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Abstract

Objectives

The objective of this study was to assess transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) parameters in pregnancy by race and ethnicity.

Methods

We performed a retrospective cohort study of pregnant individuals without cardiovascular disease who underwent a perinatal TTE between October 2017 and May 2022. Demographics and echocardiographic parameters were compared by race/ethnicity. Multivariate regression analysis was performed for TTE parameters after adjusting for age and hypertension.

Results

During the study period, 369 individuals had TTEs with a mean age of 31.8 ± 6.0 years old. Subjects were 55.3% White, 24.7% Hispanic, 14.1% Black, and 6.0% Asian. TTE parameters of left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction and LV mass index differed by race/ethnicity, though no difference was seen in cardiac geometry.

Conclusion

The differences in TTE parameters may not be clinically significant as most values fall within normal clinical ranges. Further prospective studies are needed to better evaluate cardiac outcomes by differences in echocardiographic parameters in pregnancy.

Keywords

Transthoracic echocardiography pregnancy race ethnicity

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Echocardiography parameters and cardiac geometry in pregnancy by race and ethnicity